Langa

During our stay here in South Africa we have been seeing this country from a one point perspective. We have been seeing South Africa from its pretty side: Gardenroute, Elandspad, Bishops, Table Mountain and so on. However, South Africa is a developing country which struggles to take care of all the people. On February the 21st and 22nd, 2012, the four exchange boys experienced the other life that many people in South Africa live everyday.

During small break I was brought to LEAP. LEAP is a school that runs on donations and scholars children from the townships. The school building is separated into LEAP 1 and LEAP 2. LEAP 1 are children from the township Langa and LEAP 2 are children from Khayelitsha and a couple of others. The school is actually quite a good school and all the people who go there are eager to learn and happy they get the opportunity to do so. I followed a couple of classes and went swimming with grade eleven. School will always be school but it was a good experience to go to LEAP.

When school finishes buses take everybody back home. The four of us all stayed in Langa. When we stepped out of the bus we all were shocked to see the conditions these people live in, and yet still manage to live a happy life. I’m not saying that these people wouldn’t want better but they are happy with what they have. After dropping our bags off, my host girl took me around. She told me Langa is relatively small, but I got the impression it was immense. The conditions are very bad. The streets are the sewer system and on every conner a huge amount of rubbish is dumped. Rats are everywhere and a lot of neglected dogs just walk around. Most people live in shacks or a small brick house. There are a couple of old flats where people live but you can’t imagine the condition they are in. After walking around I went back to the shack I was going to sleep in for the night. It was not more than four meter by four meter and two people lived in it. When I was walking around that afternoon I saw sheep brain, cow’s head and intestine so I was curious about what I was going to eat that evening. In the end we had pork with rice and vegetables, so nothing out of the ordinary. That evening we talked and watched television. We talked about the future and ambitions. My host girl wanted to do something in the medical world but she wasn’t sure yet. We went for another walk that evening and all the people said hello and wanted to shake our hand. Langa is a dangerous place so I was happy that my host girl knew the way because at night I felt that all the eyes were settled on me. We went to sleep early because the days are long. Wake up is at six o’clock, school starts at 8:15 and ends at 17:15 and when they are home they have homework and chores to do. 

The next day we took had to rush to make the bus, which took us to school. We were picked up at ten and taken back to Bishops.

The experience was eyeopening and makes you realize how much you should appreciate the life you have. To see how these people live makes me respect these people a lot. They struggle with everyday life but still appreciate it. They are happy with what they have and fight for a better life everyday. I think LEAP is doing a great job in giving these people bigger opportunities and I really wish these people all the best and hope that one day things will change.

I didn't take any pictures because I thought it would be disrespectful.